Month: May, 2014

It’s day three in our new beach cottage. I say cottage because we’ve been power-washing, scrubbing, unpacking and gardening so, while it isn’t perfect, I can say with confidence it is no longer a beach shack. The bathroom was gutted, we put new lighting in all the rooms, upgraded the locks and bought new ceiling fans. That is the extent of the renovation for now. Must regroup and live in the house for a bit to see what it’s quirks and charms are.

Our 1942 cottage with it’s sweet yellow porch swing. No way are we painting it!

Since we don’t have back patio furniture yet, this was the gathering spot for friends and family stopping by to say hi over the weekend. Thank heavens for the distractions b/c moving is absolutely not fun. But it’s so good when you’re done. The porch swing may just be original. But thanks to some outdoor cushions it gets a little hit of color.

M and his dad, aka Grampy taking a break

Then a Sunday afternoon impromptu happy hour as friends stop by to say hello. Three girls on a porch swing (baby W is keeping us in suspense) Hopefully, this trend will continue throughout the summer. I love love love our friends and am so grateful for them.

I literally swooned when this arrived on my porch, Kristin is the best!!!

And if our new pad isn’t awesome enough, it’s on the same street as the trailhead for the lagoon. So the girls will be parking at my house to go for a run. Which means zero excuses! At least, now that I can no longer use ‘moving’ as one.

Beth + Kerri off for a run. I know I should’ve joined them, but I had to get a donut + coffee instead

M’s dad cruised by for a visit. Sittin on the stoop, it’s a nice simple kind of lime. Snapped this shot. Kind of looks like a Country Time ad from my childhood.

We were excited to get one picture hung. That was a pretty big accomplishment. Our bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room are in pretty decent shape. With the pantry stocked and the closets organized. The remaining rooms are still in the “staging” phase, but we’ll get there in the next couple of weeks.

M’s big project…getting the cable dialed

And let’s not forget the backyard. Lemons, oranges, grapes, avocados and grapefruit! Can you say Greyhounds and margaritas anyone? It’s not getting old, at all. Aunt Deenie came by, grabbed lemons and came back later with fresh lemon bars. Are you kidding??? Bless you Deenie, they were delicious.♥

When life gives you lemons…give them to Aunt Deenie

Now it’s time to walk to sushi for dinner. We’re beat. Our muscles are sore and we haven’t cooked in months. So one more night isn’t going to kill us. It’s a gorgeous night in our gorgeous neighborhood and we are beyond thrilled with our beautiful little spot in this amazing country of ours. Profoundly grateful. Sorry for any typos, too tired to edit. Big Memorial Day hugs xxoo

Hold on tight. I do that a lot. Let’s face it, I probably hold on too tight most days. I was doing pretty good for a while, but this week was a bit of a doozy. Everything is fine, but let’s just say some lessons were learned. One in particular came through loud and clear. Not everyone is going to like you all of the time. Sometimes people may not like what you say or how you act or what you ask them to do. Sometimes it’s personal and sometimes it’s not. And it’s a-ok. What’s done is done. No sense agonizing on what or how you could have done things differently.

I read a great blog entry about self sabotage by Kristen Hedges and one paragraph in particular snapped me to attention. She says it a lot better than I could so here it is…

“I think I’m lucky to be so in touch with my ego. Her and I have spent quite a few years knocking heads and bumping elbows. Until I realized that this other self (the ego; the illusion; the separation between Me & Spirit) existed, I would often let her win. I would cancel plans. End friendships. Burn bridges and frown upon the happiness of others only because for some strange reason, misery made me feel good (in a way).

After a bit of studying and a lot of Yoga, I learned that self-sabotage feeds our separation. Since happiness & joy are our true nature – the nature of Spirit – the ego creates pain to identify with. To give it a face – a personality – of sorts. When your spirit feels bad, the ego feels good.”

Huh. Well, yes. Thank you, Kristen, that is just what I needed. It snapped me to attention and, voila, five minutes later I’m here typing out my thoughts to process things. I have so much to be grateful for – so many wonderful friends, a loving family, a brand new house, vibrant health and I live in the place of my dreams. So if I make a bad decision today or someone is “mean” to me tomorrow so be it. If I can’t convince you to see my side or agree with me, so be it. Ego, it’s okay. We have better things to do than dwell or ruminate. So, old friend, I’m sending love to you and I’ll see you later.

When I Get A Beach Shack is one of my favorite Pin Boards on Pinterest. Little did I know that M and I would be manifesting this little number into reality. Flash back to October…We sold our gorgeous house, had two huge garage sales and went gypsy-ing to downtown San Diego for the “winter season”. We traded that stunning backyard where my baby sunshine blog was born. Remember shots of this?

A truly magical space

And went for urban fun and views of Petco Field. We’ve been pretty darn blessed with amazing places and spaces to call home. For the past two months we’ve been back in Cardiff. I’d show you a picture of our current digs, but M refers to it as the “anti-dwell” (As in everything Dwell magazine is not. Snob) so we haven’t taken many pictures. It is functional, convenient and, most importantly, they let us do a month to month so all good! It’s been so good to be surrounded by our friends and back in close proximity to the beach. I really missed sandy feet, salty hair and shoulders tight from a day in the sun.

Sums it up perfectly, thanks @ocean_ave_fins

Flash forward to the present and we are now the current owners of a 1942 beach cottage in Solana Beach. Yep, that’s WWII era for all you history buffs. It is the sweetest little white bungalow on a gorgeous piece of land. For a midwestern kid, my dream was realized. We have an avocado tree, 3 orange trees, a lemon tree and lavender. Swoon. And if you crouch a bit and look out the dining room window…big blue is there shining and sparkling (at least an inch of her from my view). Yip, yip, yippee. We move in officially next week. So my beach shack board has been getting a little more pinning activity than usual. I’ll take some pics as we go, but for now, here is what is catching my eye…Had I known what a great manifestation exercise this was going to be, I would have created the ‘When I get an oceanfront beach mansion’, but let’s not get too picky. In all seriousness, I’m excited to build this home with M and make it ours. And I wouldn’t trade the process for anything! Happy Saturday and multitudes of gratitude to the universe xxoo